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Hip-hop artist Guante visits Northland College for Hulings Lecture series

December 7, 2011

Hip-hop and spoken word artist Guante will speak about the influence of protest music on society this Friday, Dec. 9, at 4 p.m. in the Sentry Room of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College. The Twin Cities-based musician is the third featured speaker in the Hulings Lecture series at Northland. The event, another offering in the Northland College Community Connections series, is free and open to the public.

Guante is an activist and two-time National Poetry Slam champion. His hip-hop music examines politics and the working class. Guante has been featured in the College Music Journal (CMJ) and the Progressive. He has also performed alongside Atmosphere, Brother Ali and other notable musicians on the hip-hop circuit. Guante manages the Minnesota Activist Project and curates the Hip Hop Against Homophobia concert series among other endeavors. He will perform selections of his work and field questions about the role of protest music on politics and society.

"Anytime people have an opportunity to just get together and grapple with these ideas, it's very healthy," Guante says. "There are no easy answers when you're talking about the intersections of culture, identity and social justice, but it's a conversation that we need to continue to have."

Guante will also talk about music coming out of the Occupy Wall Street movement, as well as the impact of hip-hop music on community activism. The regional hip-hop artist will discuss whether protest music influences politics or change, how it works and whether mainstream recognition of protest music plays a role in the success of its message.

"It's a category of music where people assume that it will influence thought and policy in the nation and the world," says Joshua Clausen, lecture moderator and Interim Director of Choral Activities at Northland College. "I think it's obviously a good thing and an extension of free speech that you would think is a healthy part of any democracy."

This Hulings Lecture event is the second in a series of presentations centered on hip-hop music and community. The A.D. & Mary Elizabeth Andersen Hulings Chair in the Humanities was established in September 1990 to support a senior scholar in the humanities. The endowment funds promotion and strengthening of the Humanities at Northland College.